Medal Of Honor : Pacific Assault
Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault is the seventh installment of the Medal of Honor franchise. It is the second and most recent in the series to be set in the Pacific Theater of WWII. It released with a DVD version (November 2, 2004) and a CD version (November 9, 2004). There is also a Director's Edition which includes the DVD edition but with added content. The Director's Edition was featured in the Medal of Honor 10th Anniversary Edition. The game is the first to feature Pvt. Thomas Conlin (though, by the end of the game, he has made it Sgt.). Though the game ends in 1943, and in a cliffhanger ("The road to Tokyo is a long one, and we're only half way there..."-Thomas Conlin at the end of the game), the planned sequel was never released, as other games have been developed since the release of Pacific Assault. GameplayEdit Unlike previous Medal of Honor games, Pacific Assault places more emphasis on front-line combat and story. It was the first game to introduce Ironsights, allowing for precision aiming on weapons other than sniper rifles. There is also heavy emphasis on squad combat, with the playable character being able to give basic orders (advance, retreat, regroup, and open fire) to his squadmates, Frank Minoso, James Sullivan, and William Gaines. PlotEdit Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault is the second game in the Medal of Honor series to focus upon the Pacific Theater rather than that of Europe, along with Rising Sun. It revolves around a United States Marine, Thomas Conlin, and his squad as they progress through the many major conflicts of the Pacific Theater, from Pearl Harbor to Tarawa Atoll. Missions - Edit Tarawa (Prologue) Boot Camp (A,B) Pearl Harbour (A, B, C, D) Makin Atoll Raid Nightmoves (A,B) Mandown (A,B,C) Sitting Ducks Guadalcanal Henderson Field (A,B,C,D) Bloody Ridge(A,B,C) Lunga River (A,B) Kokumbona Village (A,B,C) Fly Boys Tarawa Tarawa (A,B,C,D) Boot CampEdit The first full level is "Boot Camp," featuring the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego California in September of 1941 where Thomas Conlin and his future squadmates go through the basic layout of the game, including controls, weapons, and commands. There are several stations, with the first being a simple obstacle course where Conlin must move through a tunnel, over a wall, crawl under barbed wire while machineguns fire above him, crawl through a mud-pit, reminiscent of "Quiggly" at the Marine Corps Officer Candidate School in Quantico, Virgnia, and melee a hanging dummy, where Conlin's squadmate Minoso excels at. From there, the men take a Deuce-and-a-Halve truck to the firing range portion of MCRD San Diego. The second portion of the level takes place at the firing range. Here, Conlin learns how to fire several different types of weapons, including an M1903 Springfield Rifle, an M1928A1 Thompson submachine gun and an M1903A5 Springfield sniper rifle, the M1919A4 Browning light machine gun, arm a Composition B explosive charge, fire mortars, and toss grenades. The final station is a course in squad commands, where Conlin learns to both give orders to the squad and also the procedures related to obtaining aid from the squad's medic, James Sullivan. In this exercise, Conlin carries squadmate Gaines to Sullivan for treatment, and himself must learn how to stop bleeding on himself and call for a corpsman. With the mission over, Conlin's squad's drill sergeant dismisses them to mess. Pearl HarborEdit "Pearl Harbor" focuses on the Japanese aerial attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941. Conlin enters the harbor in a jeep, Master Chief Petty Officer McAffee escorting him to his station on the battleship USS Arizona. However, a plane flies low overhead towards the end of the tour. Initially, the sailors and marines believe the plane is an American plane with the Army Air Corps, but that thought is quickly dispelled when one sailor notes the "meatballs" on the wings. Suddenly, the attack begins, with the air becoming filled with Japanese airplanes, bombing the harbor and strafing the sailors, marines, and civilians nearby. Conlin and McAffee are thrown from their jeep by an explosion on their way to the dock, and proceed to move their way up the pier, attempting to both save injured sailors and shoot down Japanese planes, though mostly in vain. The two make their way to a patrol boat at the end of the pier, but as Conlin boards the boat, McAffee is killed. Conlin mans the dual machineguns mounted on the bow of the patrol boat, and proceeds to shoot down many Japanese airplanes as the patrol boat goes along Battleship Row. Along the way, numerous battleships are destroyed, with the Arizona's destruction being highlighted towards the end of the ride. The patrol boat then heads towards the USS West Virginia to aid the crew in keeping the ship from sinking. After saving numerous members of the ship's crew, including its executive officer, Conlin proceeds topside to help defend Pearl Harbor using, hat first, an M2 Browning heavy machinegun, and then a Quad-Mounted 1.1" Anti Aircraft gun. He helps keep the West Virginia from taking more damage, and then aids battleship Nevada in escaping Pearl Harbor. Makin AtollEdit The Makin Atoll Mission begins with the Marine Raiders scouting and sabotaging the island. After a recon plane is shot down, the squad quickly finishes up their original mission, and rushes to rescue the downed pilot. They evacuate the pilot to the beach where they arrived onshore at, and then wait for their submarine to arrive. In the meantime, they have to defend themselves from a Japanese attack, with Conlin killing several Japanese mortar teams. Following that, the 2 submarines that had brought them to the Atoll arrives, and the Marines pile onto their rafts. However, it is discovered that the unit sniper Willy had gone missing, and Conlin must go and find him, then bring him back to the raft while defending both of them from Japanese attackers. On the boat ride back to the submarines, Japanese A6M Zeroes attack, trying to both kill the Raiders and destroy his submarine, USS Nautilus. Conlin shoots down the Zeroes with Frank Minoso's BAR, and then proceeds to defend the Nautilus from a torpedo attack run using a mounted .50 caliber machine gun. The Submarines then escape with the now-safe raiders on board. GuadalcanalEdit After the Makin Atoll raid, the squad is deployed to Guadalcanal, where they are first deployed to defend Henderson Field and the surrounding area against a Japanese attack, culminating in a push to re-take the Airfield. After re-taking Henderson Airfield, the Squad participate's in The Battle of Bloody Ridge, where they defend the Airfield from a Japanese suprise attack at night. Conlin earns the Silver Star and is promoted to Corporal. After The Battle of Bloody Ridge, Conlin and his squad scout the Lunga River and the swamps, coming across and wiping out Japanese patrols scouting the area. After the Lunga River, Conlin and his squad embark on a mission to Kokumbona Village and the surrounding area, to destroy the Japanese Artillery shelling Henderson Airfield. After successfuly securing Guadalcanal, the now Corporal Conlin and his squad are put on a flight of SBD Dauntless dive-bombers and head towards "The Fleet" that is preparing an assault on Tarawa Atoll. During the flight, The squad fights off Japanese Zeroes and Japenese Ships, as well as destroying targets on a nearby island, and disabling 2 Japanese warships, among them an Aircraft Carrier. TarawaEdit When Tommy and his squad reach the American Fleet, they are sent to the sandy island known as Tarawa Atoll. This would be the beginning of the end of the war in the Pacific. Conlin and the squad play instrumental roles in taking the island from the Japanese forces stationed on the island. MultiplayerEdit ClassesEdit * Infantry (US) / Heitai (IJA) * Corpsman (US) / Kangohei (IJA) * Engineer (US) / Kosakohei (IJA) * Ammo Tech (US) / Shichuhei (IJA) MapsEdit * Airfield * Bataan * Bougainville * Bridge * Gavutu * Gifu * Matanikau * Wake Island Game ModesEdit * Free For All * Team Match * Round-Based Match * Invader ReceptionEdit Compared to the last Pacific-themed installment, Medal of Honor: Rising Sun, Pacific Assault fared much better with game critics. The game was praised for cinematic singleplayer, stunning graphics, well-made soundtrack and deep multiplayer. But the game was not without its faults, being criticized for its bugs, glitches, gameplay problems and long loading times. On Metacritic, the game has a score of 80 out of 100. TriviaEdit * It is odd how Sullivan is training with the Marines as he is a part of the Navy and would thus receive medical and combat training as part of the USN rather than with the Marines. The Marines use the Navy for non-combat roles such as chaplains and medical personnel as the Marines themselves have no training facilities for these roles and is a completely combat unit. This is most likely an oversight the developers made or a story engine to get the player more emotionally attached to Sullivan and to get the player experienced with the revive system, and to possibly familiarize Sullivan's appearance to the player.﻿ * The main .30 Caliber machine gun used by US forces during the game's time period would have been the M1917 Water-Cooled model, while the game shows the M1919A4 (which would eventually take over the M1917) and nearly all the M2 .50 Caliber Machine guns in-game are the watercooled model, but the Air-cooled model would have been more commonly used.﻿ * Conlin's actions on the USS West Virginia on December 7th are most likely based on those of Lieutenant Claude Ricketts, the fire control officer on the West Virginia who saved the ship from capsizing due to two torpedo hits with similar techniques that Conlin used. * The West Virginia was the same ship that Navy Cross recipient Doris Miller, a mess attendant who used a pair of M2 Browning machine guns to destroy incoming Japanese aircraft, and Conlin was situated in that day. * In the "Boot Camp" mission, it is odd how the Military Policemen guarding the grounds asks you to turn your weapons over to them every time you encounter one with weapons on your person, but allows other soldiers to take their rifles with them. * It is rather unlikely that Conlin's squad would be sent directly to the Tarawa Invasion fleet via carrier plane - rather, in real life, when about to invade an island in World War 2, the Marines assigned to the invasion would be sent to a staging base for training. GalleryEdit With Chief McAffee on the Pearl Harbor docks. The view as Conlin's PT Boat goes down Battleship Row in Pearl Harbor. The 1942 Makin Atoll Raid from Conlin's viewpoint. In the jungle on Makin. Conlin observes a Japanese floatplane on Makin. An Imperial Japanese Soldier charges the Marines. The Tarawa prologue. Add a photo to this gallery External LinksEdit * Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault for PC on Metacritic Category:Medal Of Honor Series